All about Betsey!

Hi Everyone! 

So as you know, we have been talking a lot lately about our new site, new name and new format and the suspense is absolutely killing us! But as promised, while we wait, we will be doing a few posts here and there to give you an idea what you can expect from our whole new look!

On our new site, we will be doing feature pieces on designers, stores, businesses, models and more! 

Today, one of my favourite American designers, Betsey Johnson, followed our little blog account on Twitter and then sent us a Direct Message too! I'm not gonna lie, I had a 'fan girl' moment (and by fan girl moment I mean I literally jumped out of my chair and ran around my boyfriend's sitting room screaming with excitement). Betsey had posted a pic of her working out with the caption:

"As fashion week gets closer I'm getting stronger..Blasting classic Kanye West definitely keeps me in the zone! Xox"

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a huge Kanye fan, and I'm a particularly big fan of his earlier albums like College Dropout and Late Registration. So when I saw Betsey's tweet I immediately asked her what was her favourite song, to my surprise she followed us and sent me a mail! I am still in shock! So I decided to write this wee little post all about Betsey and her work, so you guys might love her too!

(Image: www.pagesix.com)

I came across Betsey Johnson a couple of years back through watching fashion programmes on TV and reading lots of articles online and I immediately loved her! 

At 71 years young, Betsey is one of the most influential fashion designers of her time. She breaks the rules and pushes the boundaries of fashion and is known for her 'out of the box' designs and eccentric style!

Johnson's career started the Summer after she graduated from college when she became an intern for Mademoiselle Magazine. She quickly moved on to designing, and her career went from strength to strength as she designed for Manhattan Boutiques, and was involved in many fashion movements including Andy Worhol's underground scene. Fast forward a couple of years and Betsey had opened her own store and launched her 1st fashion line.

Numerous awards (including the 1972 COTY award and the 2009 Medal of Honour for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion award)  and collections later, in 2012 Johnson celebrated 40 years of her brand.

Betsey is infamous for doing cartwheels at the end of her runway shows too!

Starting to see why  I love her? 

(Image: www.photobucket.com)

At the moment I am lusting over her latest shoe collection Blue by Betsey Johnson!

Check out a few of my favourite pieces from Blue below:

If you're not a glitter or shoe addict like me, she also has jewelry, clothes and accessories, lingerie and swimwear too!

You can see her full range and keep up to date with her blog here:

www.betseyjohnson.com

I'm off to bed now, still smiling that THE BETSEY JOHNSON mailed me today, and we have a love of sparkles, Kanye West and shoes in common!!

Love, Megan

Recessionista HQ

xxx

The Anti - Fairytale!

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks back, in our New Year, New You post we revealed that once our new site was complete we would be broadening the scope of our blog to include more lifestyle pieces as well as some random blogs about whatever takes our fancy. As our site is not fully complete yet, I decided to start posting some lifestyle and some random posts anyway, so enjoy!!

The ANTI-Fairytale!!

As kids we grew up watching Disney movies and reading fairy tales, not  just us girls, but young boys too so how do we end  up as adults with such different views on romance?? 

(Image: www.harrietlilly.wordpress,com)

Somewhere along the line, most boys begin to watch and read other things like action movies and wrestling yet us girls tend to move on to pre-teen fairy tales, then teen fairy tales and eventually the dreaded 'rom-coms' A.KA 'Fairytales for Adults'. 

(Image: www.famousquotes365.blogspot.com)

Now before anyone goes thinking that my post is purely stereotypical of men and women, its not, I am fully aware that some men love a good rom com (even if they don't admit it) and some women love a good action movie. I know that some men are very romantic and some women aren't. I know that some men believe in the classic love story and some women, well, don't! 

I am one of those women. The 'anti-fairytale' enthusiast. 

Before you go closing the tab, hear me out, read the whole post before you judge!

I believe that rom coms and disney movies and fairytales with all their happy endings and huge gestures of romance are hugely responsible for women expecting so much from men and being disappointed on a regular basis. 

(Image: www.cinderellaincombatboots.blogspot.com)

Some men are great at romantic gestures and I applaud them, I really do. In a society that regularly mocks men for showing too much emotion, calling them 'whipped' if they do what their other half wants all the time and all of that nonsense, it must be very difficult to publicly or privately, have the balls (excuse my french) to carry out an OTT romantic gesture, so genuinely, fair play to the lads that do!

However for the most part, women dream of romantic men and men aren't all that romantic. Women hope for a man that surprises her with a bouquet of roses and candle lit dinner, or one that can sing her a love song that he wrote just for her, or one that stands at her front door holding adorable handwritten signs confessing his love for her, (we're looking at you Love Actually), the list goes on, and on, and on.

(Image:www.meetville.com)

The point of this piece is not to complain that men aren't romantic or that it is a crime to watch a romantic comedy, it is to simply explain that we should learn the difference between fairytales and real life, and if I'm being honest, we should be taught this from a young age!

Women spend their whole lives searching and wishing for a fairytale romance, to be swept off their feet the moment they meet their one true love and hope that they will drive off in to the sunset and live happily ever after. We are so busy dreaming of fairytales and happy endings that we sometimes miss the things that are right in front of us!

Love is complicated, everyone knows it, but I think that we complicate it so much more because we think it is supposed to be a certain way! Think about it, we put tonnes of pressure on relationships because we expect it to be the stereo typical rom com, fairytale filled with seriously OTT romantic gestures.

Fairytales do exist, but not in the way it is shown in the movies!

When you meet the love of your life, something happens; your life as you know it, will end, just like they say it will in the Ps, I Love You movie BUT you probably won't even notice, at least not until later, way later. 

You will look back one day and try to remember what your life was like before you met him, and you won't be able to. You will try to remember what you did on a Friday night or who was the first person you used to call when something amazing, or something tragic, had happened, and you won't be able to remember. You will try to remember who you used to call before you went to sleep at night, or who you used to include in all your plans, but you will not be able to remember. You won't be able to remember because when you met each other, it was the end of life as you knew it!

(Image: www.indulgy.com)

He won't say he loves you for the first time over a candle lit dinner or on top of the Eiffel Tower, but in your first fight, because he needs you to know right at that exact moment. He won't buy you flowers for no reason, but will pick one from the garden when he knows you're feeling down. You will have fights, but he will know how to make you laugh so you can't stay mad. You won't get to spend every second of every day together but you will appreciate the time you do have together so much more that way. He won't surprise you with diamonds but he will surprise you with your favourite chocolate. He will be your best friend and one day you will look back and realize that while you were busy waiting for a perfect fairytale to moment, you were living in one!

See, I'm not a total pessimist about love, just about the perception women seem to have about romance!!

The truth is, love is messy, life is not perfect, there is such a thing as a happy ending, but it might take twelve boyfriends, two husbands, a college degree,a divorce,  five career changes and a mid life crisis to get there. That's life. That's the real fairytale!

Megan

Recessionista HQ

xx

Please Note:
 If you're dating a millionaire and he flew you to Paris just to say 'I Love You' on top of the Eiffel Tower, surprises you with diamonds and huge bouquets of flowers all the time then this post clearly does not relate to you and you can disregard everything you just read :)

Pretty in Pastels!

Hi Ladies!

January: The 'Monday' of months.

(Image: www.fifimcgee.co.uk)

 Let's be honest, although we all love the idea of a new year and a new start, January is one of the toughest months of the year; we all go back to work, its really cold, everyone is broke from spending way to much over the festive season and it breaks our hearts having to take down the last of the Christmas decorations BUT here at Recessionista HQ we have decided to try to cheer you up!

Presenting.... Pretty in Pastels!!

Okay, okay so that's just the name of this post but it will cheer you up as we are on a mission to find 20 pastel pieces under €20 so you (and your bank account) can thank us later! Pastels creeped their way into our Winter wardrobes in the form of accessories with the occasional mohair jumper thrown in for good measure, but they are set to takeover our spring/summer 2014 shopping bags as they were huge on the catwalks of every fashion week known to man a few months back!

(Image: www.openwardrobe.co.za)

The great thing about pastels in the Spring time is they kind of ease us out of our black and grey winter comfort zone and prepare us for the always bright (sometimes neon) and floral summer styles, so here we go, 20 pastel pieces for under €20.......enjoy!

1. Pearly Pink Earrings
The Button and Bow Factory € 4

2. Mini Camera Ring
Gorgeous VIP €2

3. Erica Cropped Sweater in Baby Pink
iClothing €20




4. Lauren Skater Mini Skirt 
iClothing.ie €20



5. Bella Pastel Chiffon Shorts
Boohoo.com €16





6. Lucy Loose Knit Batwing Cardigan
BooHoo €16




7. Ciara Marl BrushBack Zip Hoody
Boohoo €15



8. Nicole Short Sleeve Crop Top
www.boohoo.com €6





9.  Milagros Asymmetric Wrap Over Skirt
Missguided €18




10.  Limited Edition Floral Festival Crown
The Fashion Bible €12.13





11. Sophie Pastel Aztec Print Midi Skirt
PrettyLittleThing.Com €9



 12. Gina Baby Pink Skull Print Scarf
Pretty Little Thing €5




13. Baseball Top
ASOS €16.86





14. Vila Over Size Knit Jumper
Asos.com €19.66





15. Pastel Geo Travel Cosmetic Case
www.forever21.com €8.90





16. Favourite Waffle Knit Sweater
Forever 21 € 15.75



17. Femme Cluster Faux Stone Necklace
Forever21.com €8.90



18. Coral 3D Flower Short Statment Necklace 

River Island €20





19. and 20
Okay so we kind of cheated on these ones as together they total more than €20 but we just fell in love with this two piece bikini and separately they cost less than €20!

Blue Laser Cut Scallop Trim Bikini 
River Island

 
 River Island Bikini Top €20


River Island Bikini Bottom €13

I hope this post gave you some pastel inspiration for Spring/Summer 2014!

Love Megan
Recessionista HQ

xx

Jump Around!!

Hey guys!

So I'm sure by now you've all seen at least one famous face working the effortless 'jumpsuit' trend and if you haven't then you must be living under a rock these past few months!!

The jumpsuit is one of those trends that make dressing up look effortless and dressing down look chic! It is also a trend that takes many different forms from florals to plunging neck lines, a variety of colours, fabrics and textures it has something to suit everyone!

Celebs have been working the jumpsuit trend for months now and everyone from fashion queen Victoria Beckham to Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus to our very own Irish fashionista Laura Whitmore!

Victoria Beckham

 

(Image: www.globalfashionreport.com) 

Kim Kardashian

(Image: www.theberry.com)

Beyoncé

(Image: www.shoptilyoudrop.com.au)

Blake Lively

(Image: www.q8yat.com)

Elle Macpherson

(Image: www.stylecab.com)

Kourtney Kardashian

(Image: www.fashionbombdaily.com)

Miley Cyrus

(Image: www.starandstyle.com)

Laura Whitmore

(Image: www.dailymail.co.uk)

So now that you've managed to get a look at some of the celeb's take on jumpsuits, here we give you our top ten jumpsuits, enjoy!

1. Candy Cotton Jumpsuit

Ismodo.Com €14.99

2. V- Neck Jumpsuit

The Vestry Online  €51

3. Mia 3/4 Sleeve Open Back Jumpsuit

Boohoo.com €38

4. Rhiannah Plunge Front Wrap Over Cami Jumpsuit

BooHoo €30

5.Eden Mono Print Cut Away Back Jumpsuit

www.boohoo.com €28

6. Gemma Beige Casual Jumpsuit

Pretty Little Thing. Com €38

7. Lexi Red Cross Over Front Side Pocketed Jumpsuit

VaVaVoom.ie €39.99

8. Holta Lace Top Jumpsuit

(So similar to Kourntey Kardashian's Jumpsuit above)

Missguided.eu €48.49

9.Champagne White Lightening Jumpsuit

The Fashion Bible €42.44

10. Ellie Shimmer Burgundy Jumpsuit

iClothing €31.50

My number 11 is a personal favourite of mine, as I wore it to my boyfriend's college graduation in November and absolutely loved it! It is so easy to wear, so comfortable but glam enough that you'll never be under dressed - it works great for dinner dates too! The gold belt also comes with the jumpsuit and really finishes the look off well! I kept my accessories to a minimum wearing just a gold watch and a gold ring on each hand as it was a day time look, but if wearing it on a night out  you can really glam it up with a statement neck piece or by stacking bracelets!

           

www.missguided.eu

€38.79

I really hope my top 11 choices will help you to choose which jumpsuit you want!

Happy Shopping!

Love,

Megan

Recessionista HQ

xxx